The Sorcerer's Journey
by yukipearlz
Summary: Balthazar Blake, the oldest youth sorcerer seen and brought in by Merlin thus far. This is the journey to his discovery of the power he didn't knew he had.
1. New Life

Disclaimer: You and I know very well, here we are at , that clearly I don't own the movie nor characters. I only own this poor piece of FANFICTION. (:

ENJOY! :D

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When Balthazar first shook hands with Merlin, he was already 10 years old; 5years older than the average youth sorcerer brought in by Merlin.

They told him that Merlin is, and will always be, the greatest sorcerer.

He doubted them of course; someone this great would not even bother to shake his hand, much less approach him, the insignificant young boy at the corner.  
So his eyes had shone with curiosity and guarded caution when Merlin had glanced over.

Merlin had a sincere smile on his face, the most sincere one that young Balthazar had ever seen in his life, as he walked calmly towards Balthazar.

"Good morning, my dear child. Would you like to be healed?"

This simple question marked the start of Balthazar's new life.

His old life finally ended in the run-down hospital.

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A.N.  
Hello all(:  
This story has just started to brew in my head and I'm kind of testing the response. If reviews don't reach at least 5, I doubt I'll continue this story. ):  
I would love to continue it of course, but with my heavy workload in school, my commitment to fanfiction has to be motivated and kept going with the reviews and constructive responses I receive.

Thank you for reading! And I really really appreciate the kind-hearted souls who's going to review! ^^v


	2. Heal

Disclaimer: If I own the movie and characters, I would definitely do a presequel with my fanfiction. But boohoo! Life's unfair, my fanfic remains a fanfic, the movie and characters belongs not to me. ):

**Once again, ENJOY! :D**

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Balthaza, shocked, took a while before explaining softly, "I need no healing for I'm not ill. I'm merely here as the assistant healer."

Merlin raised an eyebrow at the youth, "But are you not at a tender age of ten years old only? How could you comprehend these complicated medical phrases?"

Balthaza then realize that, Merlin, however great and all knowing, has no idea about his family background.  
He laughed to himself at his own foolishness and went on to explain, "My father entered my enrollment into this hospital for medical apprenticeship two years ago. These medical phrases would look menacing to untrained commoners but I have grown up listening to my family talking about medical related issues over the dinner. Those words are like the only thing that linked my family together."

Merlin slowly nodded in understanding.

Of course, this village holds no greater than 200 people and yet it has suffered greatly from the evil doings of Morgana who cursed this small town with mysterious illnesses that requires much analysis and experiment to control.  
New diseases are always sprouting in this small village. Merlin had tried various methods to control but none were effective enough to eradicate the problems, the best was only to contain the extent of infections through healing individuals with the power and knowledge to aid the patients.  
It also explains how he couldn't recognize Balthaza since his last trip here was around 3 years ago.

"So you had yet to catch any infectious disease from helping out here yet thus far?" Merlin is now really interested in Balthaza.

"Yes, surprisingly so. The seniors are starting to suspect that I'm so insignificant that even diseases can't be bothered with me," replied Balthaza with a snort at the latter part of his reply.

_This lad is interesting…he might just be the only rare one in this century, _thought Merlin.

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A/N:  
*dances around happily*  
I must say I'm quite surprised by the number of reviews for just the first chapter alone!  
**Thank you all the kind souls with very nice reviews!~** I certainly hope this chapter won't be a disappointment to all readers. Do point out any problematic parts or language problem and I'll try to correct it to my best ability(:

-babyrubyz

_Response to the reviews on prev. chapter:_

_**beeMel: **__Shamefully I must admit, I overlooked the setting of this story. In my mind as I set this story, it is more scaled towards a magical world without too much integration of the 'human historical world'. So the 'run-down' is to portray the fragile and disrepair state of the hospital due to its exhausting demands. (Though I'm not too sure if the description is appropriate. :/)_


	3. Fish

Disclaimer: If I own the movie and characters, I would definitely do a presequel with my fanfiction. But boohoo! Life's unfair, my fanfic remains a fanfic, the movie and characters belongs not to me. ):

SORRY FOR THE DELAY PEOPLE! ):  
And thanks a lot for all the kind reviews! =DD  
I've taken up to writing small paragraph inbetween traveling times so I hope this chapter won't end up too choppy as a result.

Now, ENJOY! =)

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_Previously..._

_"So you had yet to catch any infectious disease from helping out here yet thus far?" Merlin is now really interested in Balthaza._

_"Yes, surprisingly so. The seniors are starting to suspect that I'm so insignificant that even diseases can't be bothered with me," replied Balthaza with a snort at the latter part of his reply._

_This lad is interesting…he might just be the only rare one in this century, thought Merlin._

"Yes?" prompt Balthazar, cautious once again upon seeing Merlin's thoughtful look.

"Ahhh…I believe I've intruded enough on your daily rounds. I have something for you but due to the unexpected circumstances we met on, I wasn't prepared with the gift. Perhaps you would drop by my house by the riverside later tonight, say around 7pm for a dinner as well?" Merlin offered kindly yet Balthazar had a feeling that the former wouldn't take no as an answer. Thus he nodded his consent and went back to looking through his medical records.

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"I'll be away to Lord Merlin's house for a dinner later," announced Balthazar during his common break with his mother at the hospital.

His mother gave him a penetrating stare and warned, "You better not embarrass the family's name while you are there!"

Nonchalantly, Balthazar nodded and continued munching on his potato.

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Balthazar stood infront of the mirror. For once he wished for a talking mirror that will help him decide what set of garments he should wear to the formal and yet casual dinner. Its only the two of them at Merlin's house yet as a guest, he should show respect by being well-dressed, not to mention Merlin is the greatest sorcerer in the world, he's really conflicted on his choice.

Eventually, he settled on a white blouse fastened by a leather belt round the waist with black short woollen trousers, topping off with a black overcoat which fell from his shoulders to half-way down his legs.

Checking over himself in the mirror once more before stepping out of the house, Balthazar silently sighed and decided to take the long route by the river to calm his nerves before the dinner.

The uneventful trip down the riverside took a sharp turn when Balthazar noticed Merlin standing with his arm outstretched, facing the river. Balthazar stopped a few metres away from the latter and decided to observe the Great One instead of approaching and risk disturbance.

He watched curiously as Merlin raised both of his hands up high, signaling some sort of a welcome before waving his right hand in circles. Then Merlin jerked his left hand towards him. For a while, nothing happened. The atmosphere filled with tension and anticipation as Balthazar watch on, waiting for some sort of a powerful display. Merlin didn't disappoint; not too long later, the river rippled strongly, the two fishes shot out of the surface and landed neatly in front of the great sorcerer without much of a splash.

"Young Balthazar, come forward. I'm sure you saw the whole process just now. This, is sorcery," Merlin bent down and took the bag of breadcrumbs beside him as he speak "what we take from nature we have to give back. When you hunt with magic, you have to ensure that the cycle of life and diversity isn't disrupted. I took the lives of two fishes, the least I'll have to do is to feed the young and ensure they grow healthily to replace the lives I took." Merlin finished his impromptu speech on magic and live cycle during which he fed the fishes simultaneously. "Let's get going back to my house now. Sorry for the delay though. Usually I don't fish with magic but considering how we decided on our dinner so suddenly, I didn't have the time to prepare beforehand." Balthazar nodded his understanding as they proceed on their journey to Merlin's house.

The remaining journey was spent discussing mundane issues like the recent events at the hospital and the required preparations for dinner.

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As the two work together to prepare the dinner, Merlin finally decided that he'll check back some background information then. "Say, Balthazar, how much do you know about sorcerers and magic?"

Balthazar glanced up from cutting the onions to consider about the question and went back to cutting as he replied," well, the only thing I know for sure was that it is not well liked by my village. Lord Merlin, you are the only exception because we all know your kindness and sincerity in helping us. Otherwise, I doubt the villagers will look at any sorcerer kindly after the case with Morgana. So any sightings of sorcerers are usually not mentioned or discussed. Needless to say, magic definitely doesn't exist in my life." the bitter smile on Balthazar's face tagged at Merlin's heart. Somehow, Merlin felt that there's more meaning to the sentence than simply the lack of contact to sorcery but he decided not to pursue the personal issue now.

"So, you came here alone? To be truthful I was expecting you to bring your parents as well, I mean you are still young, aren't they afraid that you might get kidnapped?"

Balthazar replied nonchalantly as he pass the bowl of salad to Merlin, "well, it's almost impossible for me to be lost; even when I'm on foreign grounds. It's proven to my parent once on a medical trip out of village and ever since, they decided it's alright for me to wonder around. Not to mention it is really busy at hospital now so they can't afford to take time off." Merlin nodded his understanding and concluded then that Balthazar, while young, is much more mature than his age. _'Everything seems good thus far. Maybe he might be able to take the news better than I expect later.'_

Finally they finished the cooking and ate the meal politely silent, each wrapped in their own thoughts.

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Reviews anyone? Pleeease? =D


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